Steven Gerrard tipped to make strict Jack Grealish demand to Aston Villa players

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New Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard should ban all mentions of Jack Grealish, according to former Villa star Kevin Phillips. The Liverpool legend will travel to Brighton and Hove Albion in what will be his first ever Premier League match since replacing Dean Smith as Villa manager.

After a perilous run off five consecutive league defeats, Villa opted to roll the managerial dice and sack Smith, who has since become the new manager of Norwich City.

Villa swiftly brought in Gerrard as Smith’s replacement, less than five months after the Rangers manager had brought the Scottish League title back to the Ibrox for the first time in ten years.

Gerrard’s reign as Villa boss will start on the South Coash, and he will be looking to end Villa’s losing run against Graham Potter’s side’s expense. 

And former Villa striker Kevin Phillips believes one of his first acts should be to restrict and forbid all mentions of their former captain Grealish, who departed the club to join Manchester City in the summer.

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“Everyone has to get over the hangover of Jack Grealish going,” Phillips said to the Football Insider.

“I wouldn’t be surprised it Steven comes in and says, ‘I don’t want any mention of Grealish around the training ground now.

“He was brilliant for the club but he has gone.’ They need to get over it and get on with it.”

Grealish became the first ever £100m Premier League signing, when he left the club to join Pep Guardiola’s reigning Premier League champions in the summer.

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The 25-year-old had been at the club since the age of 16, coming through the ranks of the very side he grew up supporting as a youngster.

He made an emotional exit from the club at the start of August, when City met his £100m release clause to make him the most expensive Premier League purchase in history.

However, Villa did not lick their wounds for very long, as they proceeded to invest the money they received for him.

Norwich star Emiliano Buendia, Bayer Leverkusen forward Leon Bailey, and Southampton striker Danny Ings were all brought in the summer to fill the void left by Grealish,

Unfortunately, injuries have scuppered Bailey and Ings in particular, and their absence has contributed to Villa’s inability to generate any consistency and momentum.

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Their 1-0 away loss to Southampton proved to be the final game of Smith’s reign, as he was given his marching orders with the club just two points away from the relegation zone.

However, Phillips believes Gerrard’s appointment can jump-start the struggling clarets, whose have not tasted Premier League victory since their 1-0 away win against Manchester United in September.

“Steven will come in with fresh ideas and this is now about the next chapter for Aston Villa,” he added. “That is the way forward.

“The squad is very good, it is just about getting the best out of them now.”

Gerrard put pen to paper on a three and a half year deal, which will keep him at Villa Park until 2025.

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